Head of News & Media

Department: Marketing, Communications and External Affairs

Salary: Starting from £46,735, rising to £55,755

Grade: Grade 8

Contract Type: Full Time, Open Ended

Placed on: Friday 04 April 2025

Interview date: Friday 02 May 2025

Reference: CH12568

Special Conditions: Participation in an on-call rota that receives an additional on-call allowance.

Are you a natural collaborator and strategic communications professional who loves shaping public perception through storytelling? As the Head of News and Media at the University of Bath, you will lead a talented team to elevate the University's reputation on a local, national and global scale. This is a unique opportunity to craft compelling narratives around our world leading research, manage high-profile integrated campaigns alongside Marcomms colleagues and work with our inspirational academics striving to solve some of the world's biggest challenges in relation to sustainability, health & wellbeing and digital.

As a seasoned and skilled professional, you will oversee the smooth running of the press office, lead integrated media evaluation, reputation management and work closely with the Director of Communications and Engagement to advise Senior Management on all communications matters.

About you:

We’re looking for a confident and experienced media professional who can mentor and inspire a high-performing team, ideally with a background in the higher education or research sector. You will have exceptional writing skills, capable of translating complex information into clear, engaging content for diverse audiences, and bring proven expertise in reputation management. A self-starter with a deep understanding of the evolving global media landscape and a strong passion for news, you proactively identify trends and seize new opportunities. Highly organised and adept at managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment, and maintaining a sharp eye for detail. Above all, you are skilled, motivated, and measured—someone who, like the rest of the Communications team, believes in the power of storytelling to make a meaningful impact on the world.

Further information:

This role is offered on a full time (36.5 hours per week) permanent basis. Participation in an on-call rota is required for this role, and an additional on-call allowance is paid. For an informal discussion about the role please contact Corinne Evans (Vice-President, External Relations).

What we can offer you:

• We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged.
• We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award.
• We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students, so we encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university.
• We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our Safer Recruitment commitment.
• Free counselling services through Health Assured.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme.
• Staff discount at Team Bath gym.
• Staff discounts on postgraduate tuition fees.
• Staff discount on language courses.
• Generous employer contributory pension schemes.
• Generous annual leave allowance with an additional 5 discretionary days so that you can enjoy a positive work life balance.
• A wide range of personal and professional development opportunities including Apprenticeships, LinkedIn Learning and more.
• Free entry to the Holburne Museum in Bath.
• An excellent reward package that recognises the talents of our diverse workforce.

We are constantly seeking to reduce the unconscious bias that enters any assessment process, with the goal of creating an inclusive and equal assessment process. To support this, personal details such as your name, may be removed from application forms at the initial shortlisting stage.